 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Money To Purchase: However, by 1856, a lieutenant colonelcy, which by law was fixed at £4,500, was selling for £7,000, and when Edward Cardwell undertook to head the Ministry of War, the first of his reforms was to abolish this system whereby money to purchase not merit was the determining factor for men to lead the armed forces. The warrant was strenuously opposed, particularly by the military, and would certainly have failed if the Franco-Prussian War had not pointed out the new type of efficient German officer. The government agreed to reimburse officers the amount of their purchase, the entire cost coming to £7 million.
Until 1944, when all purchases of discharge were rescinded, discharge by purchase in the United States Army and Navy could be secured in peace times by enlisted men at the end of one year's service under normal conditions. The prices were:
The rate of purchase was correspondingly less with longer service.
GRESHAM'S LAW, gresh'amz, in economics, is usually stated as "bad money to purchase drives out good." The law stems from the fact that money to purchase has a value both as money to purchase and as a commodity in the open market. The former value is set arbitrarily by law and is relatively fixed; the latter is determined by supply and demand and varies from time to time, "Good money to purchase" has a higher value as a commodity than as money to purchase and will disappear from circulation.
The Selective Shopper on the Prowl London is a good shopping town, especially if you know the ropes about escaping (not dodging) the British purchase tax. This is explained, and much more information given, in a useful booklet Shopping in London issued by the Travel Association. To give the main facts here, there are two allowable ways to escape the tax. First, the Purchase Tax Coupon Scheme permits American and Canadian visitors to secure purchase tax coupons whenever dollars are changed into pounds at a British bank.
|
|
|
|
